travel light

Idioms and Phrases

Take little baggage; also, be relatively free of responsibilities or deep thoughts, as in I can be ready in half an hour; I always travel light , or I don't want to buy a house and get tied down; I like to travel light , or It's hard to figure out whom they'll attack next, because ideologically they travel light . The literal use dates from the 1920s, the figurative from the mid-1900s.